QB is no doubt the focus, but I’ll be in attendance and am planning on keeping my eyes focused on the RB’s, TE’s, and DB’s mostly. I’m expecting the O-line to struggle a bit. Botched snaps, assignment errors, holding/ false start penalties.

I think it’s likely that we see a split between the QB’s even into our first few games. Not attending all practices it’s hard to tell who the staff feels is their 1a & 1b.

?
We’re nine months removed from Riley, and you think we’re still going to make all these same mistakes on a veteran O-line who has played well with each other when healthy (and is mostly healthy and very deep now)? Perhaps the second line makes those mistakes. But we have someone who is nationally renown as a great O-line coach now, not some bear-crawl cussing hobbit. It will be interesting if Smith can’t stop the admin penalties. Will he be yanked? And we’ll see if the WRs hold on the edges like the Ducks do constantly and blatantly in their offense. Will it be called on us or largely ignored like it is with them?

Hell, I remember a 60 yard TD by LBJ where Carson York extended his arm fully to grab the Stanford D-lineman (who was sitting in an eight foot hole all by himself waiting to give LBJ a hug) by the facemask and proceed to drag him out of the hole so LBJ could run through it. So I don’t even know if holding gets called in the red option. I think that rule is gone.

I’m talking about the greatest HoF running back in the history of the NFL… at the time he was drafted… according to the spectacularly all-knowing (because… scoreboard) and wonderfully open-minded (because… not) fans of his college team.

Guyton 30yard TD. I had him ranked very high. I think he could be great once he gets on the field more. Probably won’t this year with the 3 guys ahead of him, unless they’re using 4WR sets. Are they using any formations like that?

Agree that he looked good at Utah State and could start next year. If MM or Collins plays great this year not sure how that will play out. I like Garrettson the best of the group (as of now — you have to add qualifiers like this for the trolls who don’t believe in changing as new info comes in).

The system isn’t just about the QB anymore. The other 10 guys need to know that when they do their part a competent QB will make the whole work. They can’t just learn the system in terms of how our newbie frosh run it. They need to learn it so that any QB can step in and run it.

The scrimmage ends at noon? Sounds like MM will get the bulk of reps moving forward since Collins fumbled and was picked. I also heard that the only reason Collins looks great as a runner is they can’t tackle him in practice…truth?

Our friend who went to the scrimmage said he has quite a bit of raw footage on his digital. Will be awhile before he can upload any. Maybe tonight?
Said Garretson was the best looking qb in his limited time, but of the ot her 3 it was MM, Collins, Mitchell in that order. Said Collins run plays were not very open and would put him in danger of taking big hits. He didnt look bad though

Depends on what you value. Collins definitely is the more athletic of the two, and his ability to scramble is valuable. From what I saw though, McMaryion is far more intelligent with how he takes care of the ball.

There were two plays just minutes apart that showed the gulf between the two of them in that regard. After the ball was snapped with Collins under center, the offensive line quickly broke down, leaving Collins at the mercy of like four defensive backs. Instead of realizing the play was just about done and throwing the ball away, he kept on running and looking trying to find someone open, and ended up getting “sacked”. A couple minutes later, McMaryion was under center, and he too was besieged by three defensive backs. Instead of trying to make a play though, he quickly found a safety valve receiver and threw it in his general direction.

Also, Seth threw two interceptions that should have never left his hands, and McMaryion indeed had no interceptions. He did have a bad fumble that he should’ve dived on, but instead just gave up on the play. That might’ve been more because he didn’t want to get injured though.

McMaryion’s passes were also more accurate in general than Seth, who seemed to panic at times with some of his throws.

Based purely off what I saw at scrimmage today, I would choose McMaryion as the starter, with Collins as the first backup (redshirted, though).

I was really impressed with Bailey’s speed getting to the edge in the Spring Game. I remember the offense was backed up to the end-zone (about the 5 yard line) and he took the ball on an outside zone play and beat most defenders to the edge and pick up about 10 yards. Most backs would have ended up with a 2 or 3 yard gain. That was an impressive run.

He has a good frame for a RB as well and seems to have good hands out of the backfield. I would not be surprised to see him being a part of a regular 3-4 RB rotation during the season.

Does Phil Steele had much credibitly? I don’t know much about him, but I saw where he predicted the Beavs to have a top ten rushing offense in the nation (he still picked them last in the P-12 North). He obviously seems to think there will be little to the passing game this season.

Also, JoeBeav radio show starts up Monday with Dave Baldwin, Devin Chappell, Jashwa James. Maybe we’ll learn about more than just the problems Parker’s sidekick is having with his cell or the infamous control board!….lol. Tumwater Dave…ya out there?

“So am I right with MM having 2TDs, 0 INTs and Collins 1TD, 2INTs? For those at the scrimmage, either guy take the job today?”

I saw most of the scrimmage today. The differences between Collins and MM seemed clear.

Collins showed once again that he loves to run with the ball, and that he has a lot of speed and ability as a runner. On option plays, Collins looks to pull the ball out of the RB’s belly and runs it himself (more often than he should, in my opinion). On passing plays, Collins checks his first read, but that’s about it. If his first read is covered, Collins quickly looks for a seam to take off and run. Yes, Collins can throw a decent ball, but he’d rather run if he has an opening. (Oh, and if he can’t run, Collins may just throw the ball up for grabs from time to time on a prayer, rather than taking a sack). Collins is a constant threat to turn a broken play into a long gain. He’s also a guy who is going to take more risks, and probably make more mistakes.

In contrast, MM plays a quieter game. MM prefers to hand off or pass the ball to his playmakers, and to minimize his own carries if possible. Yes, MM is a decent runner, but (unlike Collins) that’s not MM’s preference — for MM, it’s something he can do as a fallback option, if his primary options are unavailable. MM is young (like Collins) and will makes mistakes. But his mistakes will tend to be due to poor execution, rather than to excessive risk-taking.

The coaches can delay for another week before naming a starting QB (and they may decide to do that). But I think they have all the information they need at this point to make a decision.

If you want a “game manager” QB, go with McMaryion. If you want a running QB who is going to put added pressure on the defense (but who won’t do as good a job getting the ball to your other playmakers, and “managing” the game), go with Collins. Different guys, different styles. Choose one. Or perhaps choose to play both in a 2 QB system.

The key point is that the clock is ticking. Three weeks from today is the Weber State game, and four weeks from today OSU will be playing on national TV in front of over 100,000 screaming fans at Michigan. The time to make a decision about who will be playing QB in those games is now. You have the information you need. You won’t learn anything all that important by waiting longer. So make a decision.

It’s pretty clear now what each guy is about, so name one. Based on what GA has said about using the mind and minimizing errors, it has to be MM. I think MM has a better shot at winning that Michigan game, too, due to better management/poise. Start him and let Collins learn that skill. Then Collins will be more dangerous. Collins as he is now is too raw and would be a TO machine, imo.

Would you say Mitchell is a distant 3rd? I wonder if the coaches liked MM all along and just wanted to see how he reacted to adversity. It’s hard to believe they’d miss that much on their analysis. They seemed impressed with how he worked to learn the playbook, etc.

MM reminds me a little bit of Russell Wilson. Is that crazy? Obviously not that good, but a light edition. High IQ, poised, interested in mastering the playbook, can run a little. I see similar traits.

Collins reminds me more of a Vince Young, light edition. Athletic and looks awesome and will make plays by nature, but a guy who wants to just wing things and let his athleticism bail him out. Improve is cool until it’s not and the errors pile up.

At this point, I’m way more concerned about the defense than the QB situation. We have a lot of inexperience, and it looks like they got shredded by an offense made up of backups and freshmen who are still learning the playbook.

We’re not going to score 40 per game with any of our QB’s, so we’re going to have to stop the other team more often than not.

I feel ok about our def. peko, grimble and Barnett are as good as last years dline if not better. I feel good about strong and Cyril at safety. According to the coaches, linebacker was one of our most talented groups. So I will leave that to them. I’m a little concerned bout cb, but I feel better bout sitake than banker. Based on the above, we could be at least as good as last year.

At the start of the scrimmage, the defense totally dominated. After that, the offense started making plays, including a few long runs, and some deep passes. But the defense was also doing a lot of substituting after the first few series, and also seemed to be trying out a lot of different blitzes and stunts. Not sure to what extent that contributed to the long runs and deep pass completions, but it was probably a factor.

Today’s scrimmage confirmed expectations that Sitake’s defenses are going to be significantly more aggressive and proactive than what we used to get from Banker’s defenses. Mostly odd fronts, with plenty of pre-snap movement. Lots of blitzing, including corner blitzes, and LB-DE/DT stunts. Big hits downfield. DBs playing the ball in the air, and often trying for interceptions. It’s going to be fun for the players, its going to be fun to watch, and it’s probably going to lead to more big plays — both for and against us.

On the down side, it seemed like the DBs on a number of occasions lost track of their assignments, leaving players wide open down the sideline (e.g., on a couple of circle routes by RBs) or over the middle on crossing routes (where, e.g., Brent VanderVeen sometimes found himself several yards away from the closest defender). Towards the end of the scrimmage there were also some gaping holes in the line through which RBs were galloping. So, yes, the defense clearly has work to do — esp. re pass coverage. It may take some time for the players to learn how to play the more aggressive type of defense that Sitake is coaching, and we may give up some big plays (esp. early in the season). But I expect fans — as well as players — are going to end up appreciating and enjoying this new style of defense, once we get good at it (which we probably will…just a question of how long it takes…)

Perhaps sit on it for a couple of days — unless you’re merely looking to scoop — and see what “official” footage the staff/AD allows to trickle out for public consumption. If what you have is similar, then I would say go for it. If, on the other hand, it has the potential to undermine, besides the obvious, posting it online could very well lead to far greater restrictions being placed on the media and/or the public in general.

FWIW, as the scrimmage was starting! Brian Rathbone from the DB tweeted: “I don’t want to get kicked out. So no more video.”

With your ability to dissect film, as an alternative, couldn’t you do a write up re your observations and impressions? Perhaps you could also share said footage with 2-3 other trusted AB’s with similar talents, then each of you could present your assessment in a dedicated post.

Post 4-5 minutes. That should be enough. They knew it was open and a few minutes won’t hurt. Even the Oregonian had a few minutes of tape and the offense didn’t look groundbreaking. May get to see a couple more MM throws or Collins runs/throws to make up our mind who should start at Michigan.

Steady will be good in some games this year but others we may very well require that X factor and better run potential. It is the kind of thing that can maintain a drive in jeopardy of stalling. I think both will get plenty of time but I still lean Collins for keeping good secondaries honest and a threat to make first downs with his feet.

Not saying there won’t be situations where MM won’t play to our advantage though. Good thing is I think McGiven is excellent at playing more than one guy when the situation calls for it and maximizing the QB position to the team’s benefit.